Hi. It’s Fitness Coach Will Levin of Older Guys Fitness here to talk about basic principles of fat loss. Let’s get personal here. When I was 50 pounds overweight, the vast majority of my body fat was in my belly. For men over 40 that is probably where you carry most of your fat. We older guys understand the battle of the bulge. Don’t we? We all understand it and have experienced it and it sucks. Doesn’t it? It sucks bad.
It sucks because building the fat belly is easy., but getting rid of the fat belly is hard. For me, I lost 50 pounds in 6 months, right? But at my age (61) the battle of the bulge continues. For men over 40 the battle of the bulge is forever. It sucks but it’s true. That’s why correct diet and exercise need to become a lifestyle. There is no other way.
Alright, enough funniness about the battle of the bulge.
So why do men over 40 have big bellies? If you look around American society it seems to be pretty standard. Older guys have big bellies. Am I wrong? One part of that is as we age our metabolism slows down. A slower metabolism means we don’t burn as many calories as we did when we were younger. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just a fact. When our metabolism slows if we are not active our body stores fat. Another reason men over 40 have big guts is diet: Older Guys with big bellies don’t eat right.
So let’s get to science. We will start with what a calorie actually is. We see calories on food packages and we count our calories and so on. We all know the word “calorie.” But what is a calorie? A calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree Celsius. Does that sound weird? The first time I read it in my ISSA program it seemed weird to me too. Once I got my head around it I accepted that a calorie is quantum of energy.
The science of fat loss incorporates The First Law of Thermodynamics, which states that you need to consume less energy (less food) than you burn in order to lose fat. This involves our metabolism, which is defined as the chemical processes that occur in a living organism in order to maintain life.
So for fat loss, you need to be on a daily caloric deficit, also known as a negative energy balance. How do you know what would be a caloric deficit for you? The easiest way is to Google “calorie calculator.” You input your weight, age, level of activity, etc. and the calculator will show you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your present weight.
Let’s say the calories you need to maintain your present weight is 2400 per day. So to be in a comfortable caloric deficit you would need to consume 1800 calories per day, a reduction of 25%. In order to maintain that 25% reduction in daily calories, you need to eat a high protein diet. Protein makes you feel less hungry which will stop you from eating too much and thus going over your 1800 calorie daily goal.
In addition to your 25% calories reduction, Older Guys Fitness 40+ FAT BURN will have you doing cardio and HIIT workouts, which will burn calories. Not only are you at a caloric deficit (which in itself will cause fat loss) you are expending calories with my exercise program, leading to even more fat loss.
I have covered the basics of the nutrition of fat loss. If you adhere to the simple principles described in this article, you are on your way to burning fat.
I offer FREE HIIT WORKOUTS for you to start your fat loss journey.